125 Years of Type 1 Diabetes in the YMCA Locker Room

I visit a local YMCA nearly every weekday to play basketball at lunchtime.

There are a million gyms around. Almost every health club has one. But this one is special because guys have been coming to play adult basketball at this location since the late 1970's.

Every single weekday there are at least 16 - 20 guys that come to play ball, and at times it gets busy and as many as 35 - 40 guys show up. They have a fair system that keeps the games moving quickly and makes sure that everyone gets a turn, regardless of age, basketball skill level, or athletic ability. It is exactly what you think a YMCA should be.

The YMCA is an active place, especially around the lunch hour. There are classes running, people coming and going from the pool, and a ton of folks using the exercise machines and weights. I often see the same guys in the locker room either coming or going, and I suppose it's only natural to engage in small talk with some of them.

Because it's a locker room, my pump infusion set and continuous glucose monitor sensor, both of which I wear on my abdomen, are often visible. They have made for some interesting questions and statements from people who see them. There's no shortage of people who think they are experts in diabetes, especially when they may have type 2 themselves, or have a family member who lives with diabetes.

But when I spotted a guy who was also wearing an insulin pump infusion set, I knew he probably understood more than most. I introduced myself and we chatted for a while. Over the past couple of years we have become friends, even though I don't even know his first name. He's lived with type 1 diabetes for 43 years, and that alone bonds us together, names or no names.

Not too long ago I bumped into another guy wearing an insulin pump and struck up a conversation with him. He has lived with type 1 diabetes for over 50 years, and was recently brought out to Boston to receive the Joslin 50-year medal! Amazing!

Somehow I felt that the locker room of a health club was a fine place to meet these veterans of life with type 1 diabetes. All of us were there to get some exercise, work on staying in shape, and manage our blood sugars through physical activity.

One with 50 years of type 1 diabetes, one with 43 years of type 1 diabetes, and me with 32 years of type 1 diabetes. A powerful positive reminder.